A wide variety of hinges are currently available and well known to those skilled in the art. A number of these hinges are described as "self latching" hinges in that they provide a spring-loaded apparatus for urging a door to a closed position as the door is moved through one portion of its range of motion and further wherein the hinge is disabled from acting on the door when the door is moved to other positions. These hinges also include various types of self latching devices to maintain the door in a closed position. Some hinges are also provided with a so-called overcenter position to bias the hinge, thus providing a stronger hold on the door in a closed position.
The hinges described above are of relatively complicated construction, or require complex spring assemblies for proper operation. Other disadvantages include the use of different parts for left hand opening and right opening doors, the criticality of proper alignment for installing the hinge, the relatively large size of the hinge, and the provision of a relatively large space for clearance between the hinge and the door.
In our copending patent application entitled DOOR HINGE, Ser. No. 855,050, filed on Apr. 23, 1986, we disclose a novel hinge for rotatably mounting a barrier member. This hinge has first hinge mounting means adapted for attachment to the structural means and second hinge mounting means adapted for attachment to the barrier member and further defines an aperture for demountable engagement of a hinge member. A first hinge member is demountably positioned within the aperture defined by the second hinge mounting means for rotation therewith and a second hinge member, freely movable with respect to the first and the second hinge mounting means, is positioned at a predetermined offset angle relative to the first hinge member. The hinge further includes means for preventing rotation of the second hinge member with respect to the first mounting means.
Both the first and second hinge members of our earlier hinge have correspondingly configured engaging surfaces which, in conjunction with the offset positioning of these hinge members, facilitates the staged rotation of the barrier member in predetermined increments. The arc traversed during the rotation of the barrier member is determined by the respective engaging surfaces of the hinge members.
Our earlier hinge, as described above, overcomes the aforementioned difficulties in providing stepped door movements and biased closed and opened door positions. It is comprised of a minimal amount of easily manufactured components which are relatively simple to align and which require no complex spring assembly. The same assembly may be used for left hand opening and right hand opening doors and the size of the hinge assembly need not be increased in order to perform the claimed functions.
We have now invented an improved hinge assembly which retains the functional attributes of our earlier hinge while reducing the amount of space and material required for its installation. Use of the novel hinge assemblies disclosed herein thus facilitates the construction of refrigeration cabinets and refrigerator-freezer combinations having larger, more easily mountable doors on cabinets which are limited in height and/or width due to constraints imposed by the space often available for such appliances. This hinge arrangement also permits these doors to be installed closer together for a more pleasing aesthetic appearance.